Pick Letterboxd if you watch mostly films and want a diary, reviews and a film-first community. Pick Trakt if you want movies and every TV episode in one place, with check-ins and automatic tracking from your media apps. Plenty of people run both: Letterboxd for the diary, Trakt for TV, with a one-way sync script to save logging twice.
Last updated: October 2026
Letterboxd vs Trakt side by side
As of October 29, 2026:
| Letterboxd | Trakt | |
|---|---|---|
| What it tracks | Films, plus miniseries and TV movies; no recurring shows or episodes | Movies and TV, down to the episode |
| Social and reviews | Diary entries, reviews, lists, follows | Comments, ratings, lists, follows |
| Automatic tracking | No | Plex Sync and other media-center scrobbling; Streaming Sync is VIP |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes, with caps on watchlists and lists |
| Paid tier (US App Store) | Pro $18.99/yr, Patron $48.99/yr | VIP $5.99/mo or $59.99/yr |
| Imports | Letterboxd CSV format and IMDb exports | IMDb, Letterboxd and TV Time files, plus its own exports |
| Export | A ZIP of CSV files, from Settings | A ZIP, from Settings → Data |
| Apps | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Android, web | iOS, Android, TV apps, web |
Sources: Letterboxd's TV support answer, importing data and App Store listing; Trakt's App Store listing, and May 2026 roadmap update.
Letterboxd: the film diary
Letterboxd is built around films: log what you watched and when, rate it in half stars, write a review, and keep lists. It doesn't track recurring TV shows or episodes. It does carry miniseries and TV movies (Letterboxd support).
- Pricing (as of October 29, 2026): free account; on the US App Store, Pro is $18.99 a year and Patron $48.99 a year (apps.apple.com).
- Choose it if: films are the point and you want people to read your reviews.
Trakt: the full tracker
Trakt tracks movies and TV episodes, with check-ins, a full watch history, and automatic tracking through Plex Sync and Streaming Sync. It partners with JustWatch for streaming links (App Store listing).
- Pricing (as of October 29, 2026): free plan; VIP $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year on the US App Store. In May 2026 Trakt said it wants casual Plex users to sync for free, with VIP kept for advanced setups (Trakt roadmap). The free plan caps watchlists and lists; our Trakt alternatives post covers the latest change.
- Choose it if: you watch a lot of TV, or you want your plays logged without lifting a finger.
Can you use Letterboxd and Trakt together?
Yes, but there's no official sync between them. The community script letterboxd-trakt-sync copies your Letterboxd diary entries, ratings and watchlist to Trakt. It's unofficial and one-way: Letterboxd to Trakt only, and only diary entries count as watched. You run it yourself with your own Trakt app keys.
Moving between them
- Letterboxd to Trakt: export your Letterboxd data (a ZIP of CSV files), then upload it to Trakt's importer on the web. The Trakt App Store listing names Letterboxd as an import source.
- Trakt to Letterboxd: Letterboxd doesn't list Trakt as an import source. It takes its own CSV format, which matches films by IMDb or TMDB id, or by title and year (Letterboxd). You'd have to reshape a Trakt export into that format yourself, and only films would come over.
Already have either export?
goodrecmovies takes both. Upload your Letterboxd ZIP or your Trakt ZIP or JSON at /import. Your watched history, ratings and watchlist come over, and you get suggestions from your history and a Taste Card. Importing is free with a Google sign-in, and re-importing never creates duplicates.
FAQ
Is Letterboxd or Trakt better? Letterboxd for films and a review community. Trakt for movies plus TV, and for automatic tracking.
Does Letterboxd track TV shows? No recurring shows or episodes. Miniseries and TV movies are on it.
Is Trakt free? Yes, with caps on watchlists and lists. VIP is $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year on the US App Store.
Can Trakt import my Letterboxd history? Yes. Trakt's importer lists Letterboxd as a source.
Can I sync Letterboxd and Trakt? Only with unofficial tools. letterboxd-trakt-sync copies diary entries, ratings and your watchlist one way, from Letterboxd to Trakt.
More switching guides
Ready to bring your history over? Start at goodrecmovies.com/import.